A man died after setting himself on fire on a Hanoi street on Tuesday.

According to witnesses, at around 3.40 p.m. the man was riding on an SYM Attila near the Red River's dyke in Tay Ho District when he suddenly stopped, took out a bottle to pour fuel all over his body and set himself on fire.

The fire flared up very quickly, witnesses said. Nearby officers who were alarmed by witnesses' screams for help tried to extinguish the fire but didn't succeed.

Police later found a passport of Ho Thanh Hung, 34, from the central city of Da Nang, in a bag near the victim's body.